Electric signaling apparatus



4Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No, Model.)

J. P. TIRRELL. :BLBGTRIG SIGNALING APPARATUS.

Patented Oct. 4, 1887..

NTEIR WITNESSES N. PETERS. mmpum w. Wilhingion. D. (L

(No, Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. P.- TIRRELL.

I ELECTRIC SIGNALING APPARATUS.

N0. 370, 83l. Patented 0015.4,1887.

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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3. J. P. TIRRELL.

ELECTRIC SIGNALING APPARATUS. I No. 370,831,. Patented Oct. 4, 1887.

F g.7 WWI-M55555 |N\/ENTE|F\ (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4. I

J. P. TI'RRELL.

ELECTRIC SIGNALING APPARATUS. No. 370,831. Patented 001;. 4, 1887.

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YUNITED STATES PATENT Orrrcn.

JACOB P. TIRRELL, OF BOSTON, ASSIGNOR TO JAMES F. EMERSON, OF WAKE-FIELD, GEORGE O. CARPENTER, OF BOSTON, AND JOHN W. CARTER, OF

NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ELECTRIC SIGNALING APPARATUS. I

EPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 370,831, dated October4, 1887.

Application filed December 27, 1886. Serial No. 222,582. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAcoB P. TIRRELL, of Boston, in the county ofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Electric Signaling Apparatus, of which the following isa specifica-. tion.

My invention relates to electric signaling apparatus, and particularlyto coutrivances in '10 that class of devices for effecting the strikingof a gong to signal the starting of a train from a railway-station.

My invention has for its object to provide a simple and effective deviceconnected with a I 5 clock or similar time mechanism, whereby a circuitmay be automatically closed at a particular moment to give, say, threebells as -a warning-signal that the train is soon to start, and by alike operation effecting the closing of a circuit to give one bell as asignal of the starting of the train.

To these ends my invention consists in the contrivance which I will nowproceed to describe and claim.

Of the drawings hereunto annexed and forming a part of thisspecification, Figure 1 represents a front elevation of an electricgongstriking apparatus embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an end viewthereof, looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 3 represents asection on the line 3 3, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 represents a section on the line2 2, Fig. 3, looking in a direction opposite to the flight of the arrowz. Fig. 5 represents asection on' the same 3 5 line, looking in thedirection of the flight of the arrow. Figs. 6 and 7 are detail viewshereinafter referred to. Fig. 8 is a diagram representing thearrangement of the battery, magnet, and time and gong strikingmechanism.

Similar letters of reference indicate'sirnilar arts. p a a 0. representthe frame of the gong-striking device, which may be of the form shown orof any other suitable for supporting the various parts.

M represents an electro magnet of ordinary a a of the frame, and restingat its outer end on an adj Listing-screw, e, passing through a stud, e,secured to the frame. A spring, d", co led around shaft d and having one'end secured to the armature and the other to the frame, operates as atension to hold the arma; ture down on the upper end of screw 6. Asleeve, f, adapted to turn on a stud, f, is provided with two arms, 7 fconstituting an elbow-lever, the first of which arms, when the 50 deviceis in its normal position, stands nearly vertical, and the other extendsinward and upward from stud f. Arm f is provided on the inner side ofits upper end with-a triangular lug, f, and a round stud, f, theadjacent face 6 of the end of armature 11 being providedwith atriangular Stud, (1

A latch-lever, g, is pivoted at its upper end to the end of arm f and isprovided at its lower end with an offset or hook, g, adapted to catchover a lug or projection, h, of hammer-lever h. Latch-lever g is beveledfrom the offset-point g to its lower end, as represented at g, and thisbeveled face rests against an anti friction roller or sleeve, 9 adaptedto 7 turn on a stud, g, secured to the wallor frame. A stout spring, 9secured to the wall or frame is adapted tobarely touch latch-lever g,preferably at its most outwardly-bowed point, as shown, so that when thedevice is' operated and latch-lever g is lowered spring 9 will notaffect this movement, and yet it will effectually operate to hold theinclined face 9 of thelatchlever-against antifriction roller so that thehook or offset 9 will catch over the stud h of hammer-lever h.

A spring, f attached at one end to the frame and at the other end to astud, f pro jecting downward from stud f, performs a function to bepresently explained. 0

Hammer-lever h, provided with hammerhead h is rigidly secured at itsrear or upper end on a pivot pin or axle, h the latter being providedwith a heel, h, extending upward from said pivot pin or axle, to theupper end 5 of which there is pivoted a detent or pawl, 1, having itsforward free end resting on a springplate, j, secured to the frame, asshown in Fig.

1. Pivoted loosely on the pin or axle h at a point inward beyond thepoint at which ham- 10o mer-lever h is pivoted thereto is a pawl or dog,1', adapted at its free end to engage the teeth of a ratchet-wheel, k,impelled by a springflc, in the direction of the arrow marked thereon inFig. 1. Said dog z" is caused to engage with the teeth of theratchet-wheel k by a spring, Z, secured at one end to the hub ofhammer-lever l1, and having the other end extending into a hole formedin the dog or pawl, so that when said hammer-lever is in its normalposition, which is the position in which it is represented in Fig; 1,the tendency of said spring Z will be to press the free end of dog orpawl t" into engagement with the teeth of ratchet-wheel k; but when saidhammer-lever is released by locking-lever g and drops downward spring Zwill be so operated as to have a tendency to move pawl or dog out ofengagement with the teeth of the ratchet-wheel.

m indicates a lever pivoted at its lower end to a stud, m, projectingoutward from the hub of hammer-lever l1, and guided at its upper end bya notched stud, m, secured to the frame or bed-plate a. Apawl, n, ispivoted at n to lever m and engages with the teeth of ratchetwheel 0,turning on a stud, 0', secured to bedplate a, said pawl n being held inengagement with said ratchet-wheel o by a spring, n secured at one endto lever m and having its free end resting on said pawl, as shown.

Ratchet-wheel o is provided with an elongated hub, 0, extending inwardfrom its inner face, and a segment, p, is constructed so as to turn onsaid hub. Segment 1) is provided'with a slot, 11, into which a pin orstud, 0 projecting outward from the inner face of wheel 1', extends. qrepresents a spiral spring connected at one end with segment 11 and atthe other with ratchet-wheel 0. Segment 1) is also provided with afinger, 1)*, between which and the side of the segment a stop-pin, 0',projecting inward from ratchet-wheel 0, extends. Wheel 1, which isadapted to turn loosely on stud or shaft 0 and has a broad plainperiphery, is composed of insulating material, and has a disk, 3, ofbrass or other suitable conducting material, secured to its inner side.

' Extending across and set into the periphery of wheel 1' are electrodesor contacting strips or pieces s,of brass or like metal, arranged atsuitable intervals and contacting or connecting with disk 8, as shown inFigs. 3 and 5. Connected to the inner side of disk 8 is a toothed wheel,t, engaging with a pinion, t, secured to a shalt, t, extending betweenand journaled in a bracket, t and bed-plate a. A star-wheel, u, is alsosecured to shaft t and engages with a V-shaped lug, c, on pendulum o.

In Fig. 8 I have shown a diagram representing the arrangement of theseveral parts or groups of devices comprising my invention. In saiddiagram, S 0 represents a signal-clock, which may be the same as thatshown and described in the patent granted to me December 1, 1885, No.33l,463,whieh clock or time mechanism is adapted to close and break anelectric circuit properly connected therewith. B

represents the battery, M electro-magnets, and G the gong'strikingapparatus.

S O B indicate a binding-post with which wires connected with both thesignal-clock and battery connect with said binding-post and bed-plate a.

S C indicate a binding-post from which wires extend to the signal clockand magnet M and another connects said post with a spring, 10, (see Fig.1,) secured at one end on a block, 00, electrically connected tobed-plate a and having its other end resting upon the periphery of disk9'.

B indicates a bindingpost having wires connected therewith running tothe batteryB and magnet M. The binding-posts are also indicated in Fig.1.

The operation of my invention may now be described as follows: Byenergizing magnet M by closing the electrical circuit connectedtherewith armature (1 will be attracted thereto, causing lug d to slipfrom engagement with lug f on the upper end of armf, which latterdevice, by the gravity of hammer-lever h and its attached hammer If,operating on latch-lever 9, will be moved in a direction opposite to theflight of the arrow 1), carrying lug f against lug d" on the armature.The circuit being now broken, armature d will fall back to its normalposition, freeing lugf from lug (1 when armf will be permitted to swingstill farther in a direction opposite to the flight of the arrow I) andpermit hammer-lever h to drop, which will bring pawl i into engagementwith the teeth of ratchet-wheel 7c and turn the same slightly againstthe tension of the spring which impels the same, which will effect therelease of pawl z", and the spring 1, operating thereon, will throw itout of engagementwith the teeth of ratchet-wheel k. Immediately afterthe release of hammer-lever h from locking-lever g spring f", theinfluence of which was overcome by the gravity of the hammer-lever,operates to draw arm f back in the direction of arrow 1), and theinclined face of lugf, meeting the similarly-formed face of lug d onarma ture d, passes by and falls behind it, as represented in Fig. 1,locking said parts in the position in which they were before the circuitwas closed. Meanwhile springactuated ratchetwheel It will have suddenlymoved in the direction of the flight of the arrow marked thereon, and soactuated l1ammer-lever h, through the medium of pawl i, pivoted onheel'or stud h, and pivot pin or axlelfi, as to cause said lever to bebrought suddenly back to its former position and the hammer caused tostrike a blow on gong G. In this operation lug h on the hammer-leverwill engage the inclined face 9" of the latch-lever, held againstanti-friction roller 9 and ride up said face, pushing the latchleverback against its spring 9, and catch over offset 9, where it will beheld, as before, and as represented in Fig. 1. As hammer-lever h wasbrought back to position, spring Z was so operated as to cause pawl ordog a" to again engage the teeth of ratchet-wheel k, as before.

In the operation of the parts as mentioned lever m/will have been drawndown, causing its attached pawl 42 to move ratchet-wheel 0 the distanceof one tooth, or, as here represented, one-twelfth of a revolution. Thisop: eration will put spring q under tension in such manner as to causeit to turn segment 19, and with it wheel r, in the same direction withthe ratchet-wheel 0; but by reason of the engagement and operation ofstar-wheel u with lug v of pendulum '0, and the connection of saidstarwheel with wheel rby the train of mechanism hereinbefore described,said wheel r and segment 10 will be turned at a comparatively slow rateof speed, and will stop when stop-pin a" of ratchet-wheel 0 comes incontact with finger p of the segment.

The electrodes or contact-strips s s of wheel r, as here shown, arearranged in pairs corresponding to the position of the teeth onratchetwheel 0that is, there is a space between each two correspondingto a tooth on said ratchetwheel, with a longer interval between the.

pairs--this arrangement being for the purpose, as has been explained, tostrike first three blows on the gong G and subsequently one blow, andthis is effected as follows: It being supposed that the lower end ofspring to is resting upon the periphery of wheel 7* just beyond a pairof electrodes or contact-strips s s, and that the circuit is closed andin a moment broken in the time mechanism S C, the magnets M will beenergized, with the effect of giving one bell, as hereinbeforeexplained, and at the same time ratchet-wheel 0 will have been actuatedso as to put spring q under such tension as to cause it to turn slowlywheel 11, bring one of the pair of electrodes or contact plates under,and carry it past the end of spring w,which will result in closing thecircuit through said contact-plates, disk 8, and the bed and frame ofthe device, resulting in the striking of another .blow, when wheel Twill be operated as before, again closing the circuit through the othercontact piece or plate 8 and connected parts, striking another blow; butin this last operation, as spring w will be kept insulated from disk 8,no further operation of the gong-striking mechanism will take placeuntil the circuit is again closed in the time mechanism S O, which takesplace at the proper moment to give one bell as the signal for thestarting of the train. This operation will leave the free end of springto in position on the periphery of wheel 1' with respect to a pair ofelectrodes or contact-strips ss as before the operation of strikingthree blows, as hereinbefore explained, was commenced.

By the construction and arrangement of the parts as described it will beseen that a single closing of the circuit in the time mechanism effectsthe striking of three blows, and that a like closing of the circuit isrequired to effect the striking of one blow.

\Vhile I have been particular in my description of the construction andrelationship of the various parts, it is obvious that their form andarrangement may be varied without departing from the nature or spirit ofthe invention.

What I claim is 1. An electric signaling apparatus consisting of astriking mechanism,and circuit-closing devices whereby said strikingmechanism is set in operation to sound one bell, and mechanical devicesoperated by said striking mechanism to effect the closing of the circuitagain and the setting in operation of the striking mechanism in the samemanner that it was first set in operation to sound another or otherbells, as set forth.

2. An electric signaling apparatus consisting of a striking mechanism,an electro-magnet, its armature, and circuit-closing devices whereby thearmature may be attracted to the poles of the magnet and the strikingmechanism set in motion to sound one bell, and mechanical devicesoperated by said striking mechanism to effect the closing of the circuitagain and operate said armature in the same manner as before to set inmotion the striking mechanism to strike another or other bells directlyafter the first bell is struck, as aforesaid, substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination, with circuit-closing devices andastriking mechanism,of a time mechanism for closing the circuit to set in operation thestriking mechanism, and devices, substan tially as described, adapted tobe operated by the striking mechanism to close the circuit one ormoretimes to again permit the striking mechanism to be actuated,substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

4.. The combination, with circuit-closing devices and a strikingmechanism, of devices actuated by the striking mechanism and consistingof ratchet-wheel 0, provided with'pin'r,

segment 1), provided with the slot 1) and finger 1), disk r, providedwith pin 0 and electrodes 8, disk 3, spring q, tooth-wheel t, thependulum mechanism, spring w, and bed-plate a, all as and for thepurposes hereinbefore set forth.

5. The combination, with the armature d, of elbow-lever f f stud f,latch-lever g, provided with the inclined or beveled faceg stud g,roller or sleeve g thereon, and spring 9 substantially as hereinbeforeset forth.

6. The combination,withlatch-lever g,of stud g, roller or sleeve 9thereon, spring f, and spring substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

7. The combinatiomwith ham mer-lever h, of ratchetwheel k, spring k,pawl t, plate or rest j therefor, pawl i, and spring Z, allsubstantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

8. The combination, with ratchet-wheel k, of spring 7c, hammer-lever it,its pivot-pin or axle 7?, heel or stud h on said pin or axle, pawl t,pivoted to said heel or stud, pawl t", and spring Z,-s11bstantially asand'for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

9. The combination, with the hammer-lever 71, provided with thelaterally-projecting lug In testimony \vhcreofI huvesigued my name h, ofstud 5, provided with the sleeve or autito this specification, in thepresence of two subfriction roller 9, latch-lever provided with scribingwitnesses, this 20th day of October, the offset inclined or beveled faceg, and A. D. 1886. 5 spring 9", substantially as and for the'purposeshereinbefore set forth. v JACOB P. TIRRELL.

10. The combination, with lever mend slotted stud of, of pawl '21pivoted at n to lever \Vitncsses: on, spring n", and ratchet-wheel 0,substantially THOMAS H AVENS, 10 as hereinbcfore setforth. ARTHUR W.CROSSLEY.

